


Family

by AnnaOnTheMoon



Series: The Stargazer [4]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-02-04 22:11:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12780636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaOnTheMoon/pseuds/AnnaOnTheMoon
Summary: Jean-Luc and Beverly make a surprising discovery and go to La Barre





	Family

The date of Jack Crusher’s trial loomed closer and closer and Beverly Picard couldn’t help but feel nauseated over it.  Every morning she woke up in the arms of her husband, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and worried that this would be the day they would be notified of the trial.  The thought of having to see Jack Crusher again would send her running to the bathroom to empty her stomach.  None of the normal stomach remedies worked on her, so Beverly was sure it was simply a case of nerves. 

Lieutenant Commander Jack Crusher was being put on trial for the sexual harassment of over two dozen women, for abusing Beverly when they were dating, and for striking his superior officer – Jean-Luc – When he found out Jean-Luc had started dating Beverly.  That had been almost eight months ago, and Beverly and Jean-Luc were stationed on Earth anxiously awaiting for the trail to take place. 

Beverly and Jean-Luc had been blissfully married for two months now, and as far as their marital life was concerned, it couldn’t be better.  Beverly was continuing her work study program at Starfleet Medical until after the trial, where she would return with Jean-Luc to the _Stargazer._ Jean-Luc was currently working at command, doing what he called “boring desk things”, and he was anxious to return to the depths of space, where he felt more comfortable. On the other hand, once they were back on the _Stargazer_ , Jean-Luc wouldn’t be able to devote as much attention to his wife as he currently was able to, as he would have to balance the demands of being a starship captain with those of being a husband. 

That morning was no different, and no sooner had Beverly woken up when the feelings of dread settled in the pit of her stomach and she charged into the bathroom.  Jean-Luc soon followed her, and gently pushed her hair back from her face.  “Nerves again, my love?”  Beverly nodded.  “Every morning when I wake up I just feel...dreadful.  I’m sure this is all psychological and it will lift once Jack goes on trial and we are done with him.  But I can’t help but think that any day he might try to walk through our door....”

“Beverly, you know that won’t happen.  He’s under house arrest in a Starfleet Security facility.  He can’t come anywhere near us without the alarm attached to his ankle going off.” Beverly rested her head against the cool porcelain toilet and smiled as her husband dropped a gentle kiss on her forehead.  “Come, I’ll get you some ginger tea.” 

“Thank you, Jean-Luc.”  Beverly rose and rinsed her mouth out and glanced at her reflection.  Her freckles stood out dark against her pale skin, and her long red hair hung limp down her back.  She fingered her hair.  She had had it long for the past five years. She knew Jean-Luc adored her hair, but perhaps a shorter length would cheer herself up. 

Beverly graciously accepted the cup of tea from Jean-Luc and sank into the sofa.  “Jean-Luc, I think I need a change. What would you say if I cut my hair?”

“I would say it’s your hair and your decision.  Yes, I _like_ your long hair, but it’s not my place to tell you not to cut it.  Of course, I can’t offer the same to you as my hair seems only to be fit for receding.”  Beverly smiled. “I’ll still love you when you’re bald, don’t wory.”

“You’d better.  My father was bald by 50.  But what’s brought this on?  More of Jack?”  Beverly nodded. “I had my hair long when I first met you and Jack, remember?  And then I never cut it because Jack liked it and I guess in the past year the thought never crossed my mind to get it cut...are you sure you won’t mind?”  Jean-Luc gently cupped Beverly’s face.  “My love, if you wanted to shave your head to match mine, I wouldn’t tell you not to.  I mean, I don’t want you to shave your head, but I wouldn’t be able to stop you if that was what you wanted.”  Beverly laughed. “No, I don’t think I’ll go quite _that_ short.  I was thinking  of maybe...shoulder length?”

“Why don’t we get you an appointment for today and then after, I’ll take you and your new hair out to dinner.  How does that sound?”

“Wonderful.”

###

Beverly exited the salon and felt like a new woman. Her hair had been shortened to just slightly longer than shoulder length and layered.  With it cut shorter, her hair had even adapted a bit of a natural wave to it.  She loved it.  She stopped by at a dress shop and bought herself a new dress and matching shoes to wear out to dinner that night.  She felt wonderful as she made her way back to her and Jean-Luc’s apartment to get ready for dinner. She shut herself in the bathroom with her new clothing, and carefully took a shower so she didn’t ruin her new do. 

Jean-Luc smiled when he read the note Beverly had left him.  He wasn’t allowed to go into the bathroom with her as she wanted to surprise him...and he wanted to surprise her too.  He left the flowers he bought for her on the table and went to change for dinner.  He tucked the small jewellery box with a heart-shaped locket into his pocket. He would give it to Beverly over dinner.  He couldn’t believe she had forgotten it was her birthday. She must really be worked up over this trial. 

Jean-Luc gently knocked on the bathroom door. “Love, are you ready?”  Beverly opened the door slowly and Jean-Luc’s jaw dropped.  “Oh Beverly, my love, you look gorgeous.  I love the new hair cut” He held out the flowers to her before drawing her into his arms and giving her a slow kiss.  “Happy Birthday, my love.”

“Birthday?”  Beverly paled.

“Beverly, did you forget it was your birthday?”

“Umm....yes?” Beverly squeaked out.  Her palms were sweaty and she rubbed them against her new dress.  She backed into the bathroom and sat down on the closed toilet seat and put her head in her hands.  Jean-Luc kneeled down in front of her and reached to remove her hands from her face.  “Beverly, love? What’s wrong?” 

“I...I...Jean-Luc, I think I might be pregnant.” 

“Pregnant? I thought you had an implant since we knew I couldn’t use one?”

“I did...it needed to be renewed three months before my birthday at the latest, but should have been done six months ago for continuous coverage.  With everything that has been going on with Jack’s trial, it slipped my mind...I thought the sickness each morning was related to the trial, but...it might be morning sickness.  Oh, Jean-Luc, I’m so sorry.”  Jean-Luc tilted her head up and gave her a gentle kiss. “Don’t be sorry, my love. If you are pregnant, then I guess we’ll be having a baby sooner than we had thought.”  He smiled at his wife.

“You aren’t mad at me?”

“Why would I be mad?  Beverly...do _you_ want to be pregnant?”

“Truthfully...not really. I thought we would wait until I was done with my medical studies before having a baby. It’s going to be hard to balance two more years of medical school, 2 years of a residency, and a baby.”

“You’ll have me.  I promise to do whatever needs to be done to make this as easy for you as possible. Even if it means giving up the _Stargazer_ for you to complete your residency.   I wasn’t kidding when I first told you I would do everything within my powers to keep us together.  I love you, Beverly.”

“I love you too, Jean-Luc.  Should we find out for sure?”  Jean-Luc nodded.  Beverly left the bathroom with Jean-Luc trailing behind her and got her medical tricorder out of her bag.  She adjusted the settings and aimed it at her abdomen and interpreted the readings.  She held out the tricorder to Jean-Luc with a smile. “Jean-Luc, you’re going to be a Papa.”  Jean-Luc picked her up and swung her around and kissed her while he laughed. “Oh, Beverly. I don’t think I could possibly be any happier than I am right now. In fact, I think your birthday dinner is going to be rather more celebratory than it was before, don’t you?” 

Beverly kissed him back and untucked his shirt from the waist of his trousers and pulled it off over his head. “How about desert first?” 

“Is it...safe?”

“Jean-Luc, we’ve been making love regularly for the past three months.  We have definitely been having sex since I got pregnant. It’s fine.  We might need to be a little more careful in the later months, but there’s no reason we can’t continue to have a regular sex life.”  Jean-Luc reached for the zipper on the back of Beverly’s dress and dragged it off her shoulders.  “Good.  I really didn’t want to have to give up sex for nine months.”

After they made love, Jean-Luc propped himself up on one elbow and leaned down to place a kiss on Beverly’s abdomen. “ _Bonjour là bas bébé_ Picard.  You’re a surprise to your Maman and I, but I’m very glad that I will get to be your Papa.”  Beverly brushed a tear away from her eye.  “I love you, Jean-Luc Picard.”

“I love you too, Beverly Picard.”  Jean-Luc reached down the side of the bed and rummaged in his trouser pocket. “I almost forgot. I got you this.”  He held out the small box to Beverly.  Inside was a dainty heart shaped locket.  “I love it.  Does it have a picture inside?”  Jean-Luc nodded.  Beverly gently teased open the locket.  One side had a picture of Jean-Luc in his dress uniform, and the other side had a picture of her. “From our wedding?  How did you?” 

“Subspace messages are recorded.  I was able to retrieve the image.”  Beverly held out the necklace to Jean-Luc.  “Help me put it on?”  The heart hung down just low enough to nestle in her breasts.  “It looks beautiful on you.”  Beverly leaned over and gave Jean-Luc a kiss.  “Thank you.  Although,  I suppose the baby is a pretty good birthday present....”

###

Beverly and Jean-Luc decided to tell Philippa about the baby.  Not because it mattered in terms of the trial, but it would matter if Beverly started to show before the trial got underway as she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted Jack to know she was pregnant.  Philippa was ecstatic for her friends and immediately dubbed herself  ‘Auntie Phil’.  She vowed to do whatever she could to get the trial date finally set, and to try to keep Beverly from being too stressed out over it.  If it wasn’t for Beverly being one of the main witnesses, Philippa would just take her statement and tell her she didn’t need to be present at all, but it was important to the case to be able to present to the court details of Jack attacking Jean-Luc.

Beverly also needed to inform Starfleet Medical and needed to discuss what her option were, since she would obviously need to take a few months leave of absence if not an extended maternity leave. She and Jean-Luc discussed their options one night over dinner.

“I guess I could quit medical school. I’d still be an Ensign, so I could serve under you...maybe Doctor Greyhorse would want me for a nurse?”  Jean-Luc reached across the table and gave Beverly’s hand a squeeze.

“ _Beverly_.  You’ve wanted to be a doctor since you were a little girl.  I’m not going to let you throw that away. We were going to balance work life and family life eventually...we’ll just have to do it a little sooner.” 

“I don’t want to miss out on any of this little one’s life.  I know we joked about having a nanny, but I don’t want our child raised by a nanny. I want our child raised by us.”

“They will be, my love, but perhaps finding a nanny might not be a bad idea?  At least for once you return to your studies fully.  You need to be able to have time to study uninterrupted and what if I’m in the middle of something as Captain and can’t take care of the baby?  I would rather they have a steady caregiver instead of whoever we can find to watch them, don’t you?”  Beverly pondered her husband’s words.  “Yes, I suppose that does make sense...but not until after I return to school.  And even then, I still want us to take care of our child as often as possible.”

“Of course, my love.  I’m sure we can find an Ensign who would like to gain some experience on a starship to serve as a nanny.”

“I have a meeting with Admiral Brant tomorrow.  Do you want to come with me?” Beverly looked at her husband hopefully.  “Beverly.  Don’t you think you need to talk to her on your own? What good will I do?”

“Moral support?”

“My love, you know I support you, always.  Besides which, I have to meet with Admiral Quinn.”  Jean-Luc thought for a minute. “I suppose it would make more sense if all four of us met together though.  Since Quinn and Brant would have to coordinate our placements...I’ll send them both messages and ask about it in the morning, alright?”  Beverly nodded.

###

Beverly smoothed down her skirt and smiled when Jean-Luc gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek before they entered the conference room for their meeting with Admirals Brant and Quinn. Admiral Brant was in charge of Starfleet Medical students, and the one who had approved Beverly’s original work study plan, and Jean-Luc was one of the Captains assigned to Admiral Quinn.  Beverly only hoped the meeting had a good outcome and didn’t involve either herself or Jean-Luc resigning.

It felt like they had been in their meeting for hours, but it had only been about forty-five minutes. Of course, both admirals were aware of the couple’s marriage, especially after Beverly chose to change her name to Picard, and while neither one of them was pleased from a Starfleet standpoint of a Captain marrying an Ensign half his age, they both were personally pleased for Jean-Luc and Beverly.  They only hoped that as word of their marriage got out they didn’t have to field more marriages made between Captains and Ensigns. There was no standing rule that forbade it...it just made life complicated.  Technically speaking,  married couples should not serve together when one was expected to report to the other, but they also couldn’t force a married couple to serve separately from each other and they especially couldn’t force a parent away from their child. 

In the end, they decided since Beverly was doing so well at her studies, she would be able to stay on the _Stargazer_ to complete her fourth year and then go straight into her first year of residency training further under Greyhorse.  Beverly would be expected to complete her second year of residency on a Starbase, but Admiral Quinn thought he could make arrangements to station the _Stargazer_ at Starbase 32, where Jean-Luc would only be gone for possibly one week at a time.  Beverly and Jean-Luc thought they could live with this arrangement, and they also made arrangements to find an Ensign who was studying early Childhood development to become their nanny. 

Beverly discovered she was only a few weeks along, so her due date would be in July in the middle of the summer break, so she was granted permission to have her evaluation done as early as May and she wouldn’t be expected to start her final year until October.  This would give her almost three months off, depending on when in July the baby was born.  Beverly and Jean-Luc were relieved to not be separated from each other or from their child, and as they left they promised to send baby pictures to the two admirals. 

After their meeting with the Admirals, Jean-Luc surprised Beverly by taking her to the _Calypso_.  The trip only took a few hours, but Beverly had no idea where they were going. 

“Jean-Luc, why didn’t we use the transporter?”

“I wasn’t sure if you could.”

“It’s completely safe until my seventh month.  After that, there is a risk that when you transport a pregnant woman, the baby will transport outside of her body.”

 “Sorry, I didn’t know.”   Jean-Luc skilfully landed the shuttle on a bit of open ground that seemed to have been created specifically for a shuttle.  Beverly looked around at the small house set in the middle of rows upon rows of...was that grapes?

“Jean-Luc, are we in La Barre?” He nodded.  “Is that where you grew up?”

“Well, not technically.  This house belonged to my Aunt Adele.  She never married, so built a house on the vineyard on the opposite side of where the main house is.”

“Does your brother know you’re here?”  Beverly, of course, knew all about Jean-Luc and Robert’s refusal to speak with each other.  In some small way, she hoped the baby might be the bridge they needed .

“I spoke with Marie, Robert’s wife.   Whether she told Robert or not I don’t know.  But Robert could hardly deny me wanting Aunt Adele’s house...he has the house we grew up in.”

“Jean-Luc, are you telling me this house is for us?”

“If you want it to be. You said you wanted a house when we had children....so I thought you might want to live here?”

“Oh, you wonderful man!” Beverly flung her arms around Jean-Luc’s neck and gave him a kiss just as the door to the cottage opened and a tall woman with red hair a shade lighter than Beverly’s appeared.  “Ah, Jean-Luc! And this must be Beverly!” 

“Marie, so good to see you.  And yes, this is my wife.  Beverly, I would like you to meet my sister-in-law, Marie.”  Marie greeted Beverly with a kiss on each cheek.  _“Bienvenue dans la famille ... et un bébé aussi!”_   Beverly grinned.  “ _Merci._ I’m sorry, Marie,  I’m still learning French, but I do know what you said, and thank you.” 

“That’s alright, Beverly,”  Marie replied in Standard.  “We’ll get you fluent before you know it.  Would you like to see your cottage?”

“Oh, yes please.”

The cottage had been designed to match the main house, so it was built to look like it was from the 15th century, but with many modern amenities, even if they were about 40 years out of date.  The downstairs was one very large room, as was traditional in many cottages with the kitchen area at one end (complete with not only a modern stove, but Beverly was pleased to see a replicator), and the living area at the other.  The living area had a large fireplace, which Marie had started a fire in to ward off the chilly Autumn air . Off a small corridor to the side of the fireplace were two smaller rooms, a bathroom, and a small flight of stairs.  At the top of the stairs wee four more rooms, a large master bedroom complete with ensuite, and three smaller bedrooms that would all share the third bathroom.  All in all, the house was small and charming while also giving plenty of room for a family to live in.  “It’s beautiful, Marie.” 

“I tried to keep it clean, but it’s yours to decorate as you wish.”  Beverly looked over at Jean-Luc and smiled.  “Are we really going to live here?”

“When we’re not on the _Stargazer_ or wherever our careers take us.  Would you like to?”

“Oh, yes. Can we move in today?”  Jean-Luc chuckled.  “Look in the back of the yacht.” Beverly entered the small cargo bay of the ship and was pleasantly surprised to see all of their personal belongings from the apartment in San Francisco.  “What about the apartment?”

“Well, we’ll hold onto it for now, as we might need a place to stay if we’re at Headquarters for anything or if you need to be closer to Medical.  There is a transporter station in the village that can get us there daily though.  I also have to have some Starfleet consoles installed in the study, but that won’t take very long at all.  In fact, took the liberty of booking a crew for tomorrow morning.”  Beverly flung her arms around her husband once again.  “You really are too good to me, Jean-Luc.”

Marie laughed. “Oh Beverly, one thing you need to know about Picard men.  They spoil the women in their lives.  Now, I need to get home to Robert, but you two must join us for Supper  tonight.”

“Marie, I’m not sure that’s wise.”

“Nonsense, Jean-Luc.  It’s well past time for you and Robert to put everything behind you and move on.  Especially with the _bébé._ You’ll want them to know their Uncle Robert, won’t you?”

“Of course, Marie. We’ll see you tonight?”

“Seven. Don’t be late!”  She called over her shoulder as she made her way through the rows of vines. 

Jean-Luc scooped Beverly up in his arms. “Jean-Luc, what are you doing?”

“Carrying my bride over the threshold.”

“Jean-Luc, you already did that.”  Jean-Luc leaned down and gave her a sloppy kiss. “Ah, but that wasn’t for our house, my love.  This is our home.  And you know what else we get to do?”  Beverly arched an eyebrow at her husband. “Christen each room.”   He laid her down on the soft rug in front of the fire and reached for the buttons on her uniform jacket while she was doing the same to him.  “I do like the way your mind works, Jean-Luc.”

###

After a long shower together, Jean-Luc and Beverly dressed in casual clothing for dinner.  Just as before, as they approached the house, Marie came out of the back door and greeted each of them with a kiss on their cheek. Robert, Jean-Luc’ older brother, trailed behind.  Jean-Luc and Robert had never gotten along, not even as children.  Jean-Luc felt Robert resented him for taking some of their mother’s attention and further resented him when Jean-Luc stated his intentions to go off to the Academy instead of staying behind to work the family business of growing grapes and making wine.  Jean-Luc worked hard and managed to score the highest in Mathematics and the Sciences at the small village school they both had attended as youths.  Jean-Luc was sure if Robert had applied himself he would have been just as successful as him, but Robert had been more than happy to follow in their father’s footsteps.  After their mother’s death six years ago, Jean-Luc and Robert had barely spoken, and it dwindled down to not speaking at all after their father passed away two years ago.  Jean-Luc’s only correspondence had been via Marie, the woman who married Robert eight years ago. 

“So, the prodigal brother finally returns.”

“Hello, Robert.”

“Hmmph. And I suppose this is your wife?  Robbing the cradle, aren’t you Jean-Luc?”   Beverly visibly blanched but Marie placed a hand on her arm to calm her down.  Jean-Luc glanced back over towards his wife and sister-in-law. Marie was only a few years older than Beverly, making their age difference nearly the same as the one between Jean-Luc and Beverly.  Jean-Luc looked his brother in the eye. “Hark, who’s talking!”  Robert’s face broke out in a grin and he clapped his brother on the shoulder. “Welcome home, Jean-Luc.  I have...missed you.  Now, enough of that mush.  My wife has told me you and Beverly are expecting a child?  Perhaps a son who will carry on the Picard family traditions?”

Jean-Luc raised an eyebrow at Robert. “Robert, let the child be born first before you start placing responsibilities on their shoulders.  Boy or girl, our child will be given the opportunities to choose what they want to do with their life and be exposed to all options -  whether that will be joining the family business, becoming a doctor like Beverly, a ship’s Captain like me, or anything else they want to do.”  Beverly beamed at her husband.  He’s only known he was going to be a father for two days, and he was already learning. 

Marie hurried back into the house to finish dinner preparations and invited Beverly to join her.  After Beverly explained that Jean-Luc was the one with better culinary skills, Robert laughed.  “I’m not surprised. All that time he spent with Maman in the kitchen.” 

“Marie, I’ll help you.  That is, if I can count on Robert to behave himself with my lovely wife and not tell her embarrassing stories about me...”

“I won’t make any promises I can’t keep, Jean-Luc.” Robert held out his arm to Beverly. “Come now, my fine sister.  Let’s see what old photos of Jean-Luc I have lurking around.  If that one is a boy, you need to know what you’re in for....”  Beverly giggled and slipped her arm through Robert’s and blew Jean-Luc a kiss as she allowed her new brother-in-law to lead her into the old home. 

Jean-Luc heard his wife shriek with laughter as he cut potatoes in the kitchen with Marie.  “I’m not sure I want to know what Robert just told Beverly.”  Marie smiled at her brother-in-law.  “I’m sure it’s nothing too bad.  Besides, it’s good to see you two finally on speaking terms again. “

“Thank you for facilitating that, Marie. If it hadn’t been for you reminding me of Aunt Adele’s old cottage, we might have bought a house somewhere else.  I don’t know what the future holds for us and our family, but I know we will be here as often as we can.”

“That’s good to hear, Jean-Luc. I want to know my niece or nephew.”

Dinner was, perhaps, the best meal Jean-Luc could ever remember eating in that house, at least in terms of family interaction. No one was yelling or degrading anyone,  no one was crying, everyone was civil.  As he sipped on his wine he was reminded how infrequently he drank real alcohol and glanced over at Beverly.  Robert had given her a watered down glass of red, insisting that it would be ok for the baby.  Beverly readily agreed and pointed out that it would be fine for her to have a single glass of full strength wine until her sixth month.  Jean-Luc tried to make a mental note, but there were so many things that changed depending on what month of pregnancy Beverly was in and Jean-Luc just gazed on his wife with adoration and admiration. How she kept everything she could and couldn’t do straight was beyond him, but perhaps it was just her mother’s intuition kicking in.  Jean-Luc grinned.  He was feeling rather fatherly himself these past few days.  He hoped he didn’t disappoint his child.  He didn’t want him or her to grow up resenting him the same way he had resented his own father.

After dinner, they all retreated into the old, familiar, family room.  The mantle was decorated with photos going back to Robert and Jean-Luc’s childhood and he cringed as he looked at some of them.  Beverly spied a photo of a small boy  wearing an obviously uncomfortable small suit holding a baby decked out in a frilly dress on his lap.  She picked it up and held it out. “Is that you as a baby?”  Robert picked up the photo. “Ah, yes.  Maman wanted a photo of her boys at Jean-Luc’s christening.  I hated that suit. The shorts itched.”  Beverly turned to Jean-Luc.“I didn’t know you were christened.”

“Oh yes.  Papa insisted. I don’t think Maman cared about it one way or the other, we certainly never attended the village church, but Papa wanted it and what Papa wanted, he generally got.” 

“Will you want the baby christened?”  Jean-Luc put the photo down and reached for Beverly’s hand.  “Only if it’s something you want, too.” Beverly nodded. “I’ll think about it. Robert, Marie, do you have any opinion on it?”

“Beverly, it’s your child, of course we don’t.”  Marie gave Robert a sharp glare as if to dare him to disagree with him.  “Marie is right. Although, having a little holy water sprinkled on me hasn’t seemed to have done any harm.”

Beverly got to know her new in-laws that evening until she let out a yawn.  “Sorry, I must be tired.”  Jean-Luc glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. “It’s going on midnight.  I’m afraid we do need to go.  We have workmen coming in the morning to install my Starfleet console.” 

“Will you be staying here?”

“Until the trial for Jack is over.  Then we will probably return to the _Stargazer_ at least as long as Beverly wants to.  If we’re not back sooner, we’ll be back over the Summer for sure when the baby is born.  I’m going to take some paternity leave for a few months.” 

“A wise idea, Jean-Luc. Goodnight.  Goodnight, Beverly. I hope we become good friends.”  Marie embraced Beverly.  “Me too, Marie.  Goodnight Robert. “  Robert gave Beverly a kiss on the cheek.  “Goodnight, my dear.  And if I didn’t say it earlier, welcome to the family.” 

Jean-Luc clasped Beverly’s hand in his as he led her across the now darkened vineyard. “Should have asked Robert for a torch. I’m sorry about this, my love.”  Beverly glanced up at Jean-Luc’s face in the moonlight. “The moonlight is pretty.  Did you know I was born up there?” 

“On Luna?”

“Yes.  My parents were doing their research on Luna. We lived there until...well, until their accident and I went to live with Nana on Arvada Three and then Caldos.”  Jean-Luc gave her hand a squeeze.  “I’m sorry, Beverly.  Would you like to visit your nana?  I’m sure we could arrange to take the _Calypso_ there at Chrristmas?”  Beverly shook her head. “I’m not very close with Nana.  And I vowed when I left Caldos I was never going back.”

Jean-Luc stopped walking and pulled Beverly into his arms, kissing her gently. “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t bring up bad memories?”

“Nothing that can’t be replaced with some new memories. You know, the moonlight is quite beautiful...” Beverly mischievously grinned at her husband and tugged her dress off over her head and shivered in the autumn air.  _“Beverly Picard!_ I’m positively scandalised.  Are you suggesting we make love right here in between the rows of vines?”  Beverly merely stepped out of her knickers and unclasped her bra and stood naked in front of him.  Jean-Luc bit back a groan. Beverly really was beautiful in the moonlight.  Beverly reached for Jean-Luc and tugged off his shirt.  Jean-Luc fumbled to get out of his trousers, which was no easy feat when he hadn’t taken off his shoes!  He reached for Beverly and pulled her close.  Beverly wrapped her arms around Jean-Luc’s shoulders and pulled his face close for a kiss.  They fell to the ground together, laughing and rolling between the rows of vines.  Beverly felt the grapes that had fallen off the vines squish underneath her back and with the heady scent of the grapes on the vine filling her nose they made love.  

Beverly laughed as they stood up.  Jean-Luc’s back was stained purple from the grapes and she was sure hers looked the same.  “How far away is the house?”

“Not far, why?”

“We’re covered in grapes. We’ll ruin our clothes if we put them back on.”

“Ah. Well, no one else is here, so I think we can have a leisurely stroll home.  I must admit, I’ve never walked through the vineyard naked.” 

“First time for everything!” 

They laughed and teased each other as they walked and sometimes ran through the vines and Jean-Luc felt like a teenager again...only he wasn’t entirely sure his teenage self would have been able to fully appreciate all the curves on Beverly’s body or the way her shapely bottom wiggled when she walked.   Jean-Luc hurried to catch up with his wife and he caught her around her waist, pressing her back into his chest and he sucked on her neck.  He could taste the grapes they had been rolling in on her neck.  Beverly dropped the bundle of clothing she was carrying,  moaned , and reached behind for Jean-Luc and was pleasantly surprised to find him already beginning to become aroused.  She turned around in his arms to kiss him.  “Someone is insatiable.” 

“Someone has an absolutely gorgeous wife he can’t keep his hands off of.”  Beverly grinned. “Remember that in seven months when my belly is huge and I’m full of stretch marks.” Jean-Luc dropped to his knees in front of her and rested his head against her stomach.  “You will be beautiful when you are filled with our child.”  Beverly gave a wry smile.  Jean-Luc really was romanticising pregnancy.  She hoped he wouldn’t be too shocked when the realities of pregnancy set in.  Jean-Luc picked up their dropped clothing and passed the bundle to Beverly before he picked her up in his strong arms and started running towards their house. 

“Jean-Luc, put me down!”

“Not until we get to the bed.” 

“We’ll get the sheets all dirty....”

“They can be cleaned.”  Beverly laughed and wrapped her free arm around Jean-Luc’s neck, suddenly feeling very grateful for all the training he did in the gym. 

They fell asleep, a tangle of arms and legs and purple stained sheets.  Cleaning would have to wait until the morning. 

 

 

 

 


End file.
